


Idl3

by hobbs0101



Category: Original Work
Genre: Near Future, Other, Science Fiction, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:15:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29834505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hobbs0101/pseuds/hobbs0101
Summary: Idl3 takes place in a dystopian society where cities are racked by digital zombies, also known as Drones, whose bodies were taken over by computer chips embedded into their brains after the technology was introduced in 2066. Our story takes place in North St Louis and follows 4 unique roommates in a basement who work to uncover the secrets behind the pandemic and save their people.
Kudos: 1





	Idl3

When I was a kid, my dad would often tell me stories about space. He told me that beyond our atmosphere there were a plethora of opportunities waiting to be discovered; endless planets, stars, and systems. I used to daydream about becoming an astronaut and adventuring into the void of space with my intergalactic crew. My favorite dream was discovering ‘Planet Z,’ a distant entity on the outskirts of the sector E-23 galaxy. The surface of the planet was covered with lush green forests and home to the most diverse ecosystem of plants and creatures known and unknown to humanity. Landing on the planet, the possibilities were endless for me and my crew; we set up base and ventured out into the forests in search of intelligent life. Deep into the thick of the forests, we were greeted with a horrible alien monster, our first challenge to overcome on this planet. It was a grey fur-covered beast with a thousand eyes covering the top of its head with long tendrils escaping from its back that swung around its head to protect itself. Although its figure was impressive, the alien was no match for our blasters. Pew pew pew and the creature was no more than a pile of dust and guts. Our crew then yelled in triumph and we would return to starbase victorious. I often think back to that daydream with questions; why did we stop after we defeated the beast? Wasn’t there more to explore? Why did we call the beast an alien if it was on its own planet? Were we the aliens? Why were we there in the first place? Don’t we have our own planet? What were we escaping from? What were we running from.  
  
...  
  
“V. Wake up”  
I felt a hand pulling at my shirt top. My heavy eyelids slowly opened to reveal my sister, hovering over me as I rested in the driver's seat of my car. The leather was practically calling for me to fall back asleep in its arms, I had only gotten three hours in the past three days of our journey.  
“V we have to be heading out by sunrise. The drones will be awake soon and I’m not mentally, physically, or spiritually ready to fight off another hoard.”  
“Mmmm..,” I grumbled. “Can’t we wait another half an hour Three? I was having a nice daydream.” I started to slump back into my chair.  
“Wake up dip shit, we ain’t got all night for you to be dozin' off. Remember what happened last week when your ass almost got us caught in the hoard back in the mall? I hope the fucking cinnamon pretzel worth it.”  
Man, I was tired of hearing Clyde’s voice, the southern twang always makes it seem like he’ll spit out something incentive any second. The pretzel was very worth it though, it was the last Auntie Annes in the state and I was not passing up that opportunity.  
“I’m awake now that I’ve heard your voice sweet cheeks,” I replied back in a mocking accent. “Also can you guys cool your jets, I’m very mm-,” I finish my sentence with a big yawn,”...sleep deprived. Can’t I get a break?”  
“We have to be reaching East Louie sometime buddy. I don’t feel like risking any more time by ourselves, there’s only three of us and thousands of them fuckers. And that’s including Three with us,” Clyde chuckled to himself.  
“Very funny Clyde,” Three replied.  
“Loosen up a bit Sweetie.”  
“Like the screws in your head?” I jokingly said to Clyde with a grin on my face. I could always get under his skin easily by mocking his intelligence. He grew up in a small Christian town for most of his life, and when the outbreak happened he was heading up North to see his grandma in Missouri when he found us. Usually, I wouldn’t care for types like him, but in a town like this, he’s the only half-decent person around with some sense. He also had a nice truck that I noticed at the shelter, and I can always appreciate a guy with a nice set of wheels as a car enthusiast.  
“This noggin’ is the only reason why we’re here right now,” he replied. That was true, Clyde did pull off a fancy maneuver at the mall to keep us alive. He crashed his F-150 into a big group of drones and a support beam in the mall to give us time to escape to my car. We have yet to hear the end of it. “Y’all owe me a new truck by the way, just thought I’d put it out there again.”  
“Yeah you’ve mentioned it a couple times,” I replied. “Not sure where we’ll find a vintage Ford but if I happen to stumble across one while taking my morning stroll you’ll be the first to know, promise.”  
“Thank you! If you find one I can finally stop riding around with you shitheads in this shitbox.”  
“This shitbox has a name Clyde, have some respect.”  
“My bad Vin, I cannot wait to get away from this turd temple.” The passive-aggressiveness in the car was very potent today, yet I cannot think of a time where it wasn’t. Clyde has had some sort of beef with me since we first met, probably because he actually believes that the Chinese are the problem. He thinks their government is the driving force behind the outbreak. They’re always behind everything; the flu, the elections, the reason why pancakes got more expensive at the waffle house. Once he noticed the Asian traits in Three and I’s faces, it was about over. Luckily he’s not that racist, he slowly warmed up to us after a couple days. Glad we could be the model minority for him.  
Three cautiously inserted herself between us. “We don’t have time for this,” she commented. “V is tired, Clyde you are on edge, I think we should give it a break for a second and then head out of here.” The car was silent for a moment as I slumped back into my chair and Clyde took a deep sigh.  
“You’re right Three,” I said. “The car is almost done charging, it has about five minutes; after it's done we can get back on the road. Grab whatever you need from the station store over there, I’ll wait in the car.” Clyde and Three left the car to go investigate the store at the Energy Station. I could hear Clyde make a comment about how he hopes they have jerky and I could only imagine the eye roll he received back. Five minutes should be enough time for a power nap, right? I let my eyes slowly close as I folded my arms.  
  
...  
  
Deep into the blackness of my subconscious, I could sense a large presence. I began to walk forward until I was stopped in my tracks by a small distant whimper. I could not see more than an inch in front of my face past the thick cold smog of the landscape; however, I continued to get closer to the source of the noise. The smog only got thicker as I trudged forward, I was beginning to have my touch on reality blurred as I lost all sensation in my body. The whimper only got closer, and closer, and closer until it was right in front of me. I made an attempt to reach out, but when I did the whimper stopped abruptly. Frozen in time, all I felt was the cold breeze of the smog travel across my neck as my arm remained extended outwards. Suddenly, I could feel something cling to my finger. It felt like an octopus tentacle mixed with the soft bushy tail of a house cat. The tentacle began to grow as it slowly wrapped around my entire arm. I could not talk, scream, or whisper as my mouth felt as if it had fallen into my stomach. The thing began to work its way down from my shoulder to my chest, and then from my chest to my legs, and then it finally wrapped itself softly around my neck. The smog began to clear up. The hairy tentacle began to tighten up around my body; it felt as if it was individually gripping the nerves inside of me. A silhouette began to emerge from the translucent smog, nearing itself closer to my face. Inches away, staring directly at me, was the beast from planet Z. The tendrils coming out of its back put me into a vice and each of the individual eyes on its body stare into my soul. I was not sure which eye to look at as each of them seemed to follow my gaze. Suddenly, an object began to emerge from the top of its skull as its entire body lowered. When it was head level, the object revealed itself; it was the face of an elderly man. His glossy grey hair fluttered in the icy wind, his bushy brows furrowed slightly above his beady black eyes. The wrinkles of his face seemed to flow across the valley of his cheeks and forehead. The face leaned forwards until I could feel the bristles of his beard graze the surface of my cheek. My ears then absorbed the sound escaping from his lips in a deep chilly gasp, “Run boy.” All life was then squeezed out of me as his tendrils engulfed my head and the last bit of humanity escaped my body.

**Author's Note:**

> Work in progress  
> Adding new chapters every week  
> Thank you for reading :)


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